getting old, or not

Once a week there are a group of men who gather near my house to play football, or rather, toss a football around. When I first came across them I thought they were practicing some sort of drill in slow motion, but then I realized, 'That's as fast as they run; they're 80.' They appear to be having a lot of fun, though no one is moving faster than a snail, or as one witty friend put it recently, 'like turtles stampeding through peanut butter'. The visual image of that makes me laugh every time.

I like to imagine what sort of lives they have led, and how they arrived at 80, fit and still enjoying life. I have them pegged as part of the 1943 UBC Varsity football team, married to their high school sweethearts. Lucky ladies. I hope my guy (mythical at this stage) is half as virile as them when he's 80. I also think they genuinely get a kick out of running around catching the football (I know I sure do) and enjoy it when others watch them, if only for the security of knowing that someone can call 911 when something fails. They are the 80 yrd old versions of the guys you know today who go to every practice, suck up an injury, and think that all great parties happen in the locker room. These men are dedicated to their passion, even at this late stage, and appear to be committed to staying active doing something they love.

I recently took the greyhound bus to Revelstoke (an eye-opening experience if you're looking for one), and along the way I met a lovely older man who sat behind me and shared stories until Salmon Arm. He was adventurous, loved to travel, had some great and funny stories about his run-ins with the border guards, and had to be pushing 80 years old. He talked about the little community he now lives in, and even though he had only been there for a year (moved from the coast to get away from the dampness; it bothered his breathing) he had an entire network of friends who took care of each other, and a family who live next door with kids who treat him like a grandfather. As he got off the bus in Salmon Arm, the last thing he said to me was 'don't get old'. I smiled and promised him I would not.